Affairs Don't Last
by Halunygin
Summary: Across international borders, their worlds crumble.


**A/N: For the affair challenge and the Choose Your Own Wand challenge, the wand maker is Gregorovitch. I was given these characters by the affair challenger. I wrote something for this, but I wasn't really proud of it, so I rewrote it, and I really like what I did.**

 **The only problem is it still feels like it's not finished, because there's no confrontation, but it did have a good stopping point.**

* * *

Alice leaned against the door frame and sighed as she watched Frank pack and repack his suitcase. He was dreadful at it, but always refused to use magic for such a mundane task.

"How long is this mission supposed to take again?" she asked. Her husband looked up and knitted his eyebrows in momentary confusion before nodding.

"Right. Um, just a few days."

"It sucks that they gave you a mission right before Valentine's Day," Alice commented, sitting down gingerly on the bed and rubbing her slightly swollen stomach. "But that's what we get for being members of a secret rebellion, huh?"

"Yep," Frank replied vaguely, getting up and gathering his bathroom supplies to pack.

Alice frowned at this. Frank had been awfully distant with her for weeks now, and she wanted to fix it. That's why she had been looking forward to Valentine's Day. She had made reservations at their favorite restaurant, and Lily had taken her to some adult shop and coaxed her into buying some red thing from the maternity section. She didn't even know adult shops _had_ sections like that.

But then the Order of the Phoenix had some urgent meeting that Frank and Marlene McKinnon were assigned to ruin her plans. She had half a mind to go to Dumbledore in person and rant. Alice got up and followed her husband into their bathroom.

"It's ironic, isn't it, that you have to go to Italy, the most romantic country in the world, on Valentine's Day of all days?" she laughed weakly. Frank shrugged as he grabbed his toothbrush.

"I guess."

Sick of the lackluster responses, Alice let out a loud growl of frustration. "What is it, Frank, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Frank replied, his eyes wide. "Are _you_ okay?"

"No, because this is the most alert you've been around me in weeks!" she exclaimed. "You hardly talk to me anymore. Is it me, did I do something wrong?"

Frank looked pained as he shook his head and pat the space on the bed beside him. "Of course not, sit down."

Alice complied, her arms crossed across her chest and her dark brown braid swishing. Frank put an arm around her.

"It's just between doing missions for the Order on top of my auror duties, I'm running ragged, and I'm too tired to talk sometimes."

"I know, and I'm sorry," Alice sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I shouldn't have yelled."

"It's fine, but try not to work yourself up while I'm gone, will you?" Frank asked with a smirk.

Alice nodded, and wrapped him in a hug. "I'll miss you."

She barely noticed that Frank returned her hug half-heartedly, and let go far too soon.

* * *

"We're in Italy," Marlene cheered as she threw her head out the open window of their hotel room. "Land of pizza and gondolas!"

"Okay, that's enough liquor for you," Frank chided, grabbing the bottle out of the woman's hands and pulling her back in. Marlene's blonde curls tickled his nose.

"Shut up, I'm just happy," she giggled as she tugged on Frank's tie. "We haven't had a chance to be alone for such a long time since Lily and James's Christmas party."

"Well, Alice never leaves the house, and it's difficult to maneuver sex in an office where just anyone can walk in," Frank pointed out, wrapping his arms around her waist. Marlene nipped lightly at his collar bone.

"That only makes it more fun, Frank."

"Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer a bed to a desk," Frank quipped, taking off his jacket.

* * *

Alice hummed to herself as she washed the dishes that had accumulated in the past few days. It wasn't the most fun chore, but it kept her mind off of Frank's absence. When she was done, she stepped into the living room and tapped her chin, looking for something else to do.

The drawers in their room needed to be cleaned. Yes, that would definitely while away some time.

* * *

Marlene kicked off her shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed. "And I prefer my boyfriends to be single, but we don't always get what we want, now do we?"

Frank gave her a look, and she crossed her arms, giving him a defiant one of her own.

"I'm not taking it back, you've been putting this off for months now. When are you going to tell her?"

Frank pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not that easy."

"Of course it is," Marlene countered. "You don't love her anymore, and you want a divorce."

"She's pregnant, Marls, I'm supposed to tell my pregnant wife I want to leave her?"

Marlene frowned. "It's harsh, but it's better than lying."

"You knew I was married, so why'd you come on to me in the first place?" Frank asked in utter frustration. Since when did Marlene care about things like this?

* * *

Alice sighed as she rid Frank's drawers of dust. "Merlin, when was the last time we cleaned any furniture in this house?" she muttered. They'd have to do a final wipedown of all surfaces before the baby was born. Then again, a wipedown now would ensure she wasn't breathing something disgusting and poisoning her fetus. She continued folding Frank's underwear, and something lacy fell out of one of the leg holes. She lifted up the purple bra to closer examine it. It wasn't hers, yet it looked familiar.

* * *

"Because I believed you when you said you'd break it off," Marlene replied, her voice breaking slightly as she stood up. "And when you told everyone you and Alice were expecting, I thought, well, he can still divorce her, and get split custody of the baby. I could totally be a stepmom, this can work. God, I was so delusional, and so wrong!"

She started pacing the room.

"No, Marlene-" Frank started.

"Here I thought you loved me, but you don't, do you? You just wanted to get some on the side while maintaining some good husband and father image. I thought you had grown up since Hogwarts!"

* * *

"Marls? Benji was-" Alice started, opening the door to the 7th year girls' dorm. "Marlene!"

Marlene paused, halfway through taking off her shirt, her dark purple bra starkly contrasted against her pale skin. "Did you need something, Alice?"

"Lock the door next time, would you?" Alice insisted weakly. Frank could have been with me."

Marlene rolled her eyes. "He loves you, Al, seeing me half nude wouldn't change that."

"You don't know that," Alice countered, and she flopped onto her bed. "I accidentally saw Edgar getting out of the shower once, haven't been the same since."

Marlene snorted at that, and Alice threw a pillow at her.

* * *

Tears streaming down her face, Marlene grabbed her coat and shoes and made for the door.

"Where are you going?" Frank asked.

"I don't know, but I can't be here, I can't do this. Not anymore."

Frank grabbed her arm. "Marls, listen to me, don't go. I'll tell her, I'll floo right now and tell her I'm done."

Marlene shook her head and wiped her eyes. "I wish I could believe you, but you're a broken record, Frank. And I can't keep lying to Alice, it's killing me. So if there's anything you can do to redeem yourself even the slightest in my eyes, it's tell her the truth."

With that, Marlene left the hotel room, the door crashing behind her, and Frank slumped onto the bed, his head in his hands.

* * *

Alice's breathing became ragged as she stared at the article of clothing in her hands. She tried to stay calm. Surely there was logical reason Marlene's bra was in her husband's underwear drawer.

When was the last time Marlene had been over? When they had the housewarming party in June. All of her and Frank's friends came. Maybe Marlene had hooked up with someone, Sirius Black, maybe, and left her bra behind. Marlene wasn't the type to be embarrassed, though, she'd have no qualms about coming back for it. And wouldn't Frank have noticed the bras during the several months after?

The little voice in the back of her head kept tapping on her skull, but she didn't want to listen. She didn't want to accept that her husband had slept with Marlene, probably on more than one occasion, since he had her bra as a keepsake.

"No," Alice whimpered, tears pooling in her eyes. How could Marlene do this to her? No, Marlene wasn't the immediate problem.

 _It's ironic, isn't it, that you have to go to Italy, the most romantic country in the world, on Valentine's Day of all days?_

Frank was. He had lied to her face, told her he had a mission, when in reality, he was spending Valentine's day with her. She didn't even think to confirm it. _You had no reason to_ , she told herself. Her husband's distance made more sense now. He said he was tired, the bastard.

Her brain was on fire, she could barely think. She couldn't just go running off to Italy, but the thought of letting Frank have even one more second of bliss was too much to stand. No, she needed to be calm and clear. She looked down at her stomach. She had to be calm, at least for the baby. She'd wait until he got home, and then she'd tear into him, questions, crying, test out a few spells from Augusta's gifts. But in the meantime, she had to tell someone.

She'd tell Lily. The redhead had become very important to her in the last two years, and she was one of the smartest people Alice knew.

Alice took some deep breaths before going downstairs and grabbing a handful of floo powder from the mantel. She took one last look at the living room, because maybe it was the last look, and stepped through the green flames.


End file.
